Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of shelters. More particularly, the present invention relates to above-ground shelters which either can be installed in new construction or can be retrofitted into an existing structure.
Description of the Prior Art
The idea of a shelter from dangerous forces such as tornados, hurricanes or bombs has been around for decades. See, for example, Pierson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,153 for a Combination Shelter and Swimming Pool. While less than optimally functional (what, for example, does one do about the water in the pool if one needs to use the shelter?), Pierson illustrates that the idea of an in-ground shelter is not new. Presumably, Pierson was focusing his efforts on a shelter that might protect a user from the threat of Soviet nuclear attack. Before Pierson, many people installed simple cellars primarily for food storage, but also for protection from storms. Entrance to these early shelters was usually accomplished through a hinged door.
Hope et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,345, and Poole, U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,866. Hope et al., claimed a “tornado shelter,” and Poole claimed a “storm shelter.” Both are for a shelter which is designed to be installed below ground, and which has a sliding, substantially-flat access door near ground level to allow ingress and egress. The door in Poole, which is the patent closest to the present invention, appears to covers approximately one-third of the top of the shelter. The door sits on rollers, and rolls downwardly and inwardly to open. That is, it rolls down underneath of the rest of the shelter's top. This method of operation means that by rolling downwardly, it takes room out of an already cramped shelter, and by rolling under the lid, the size of the access door is limited because it must be smaller than the remaining portion of the top of the shelter under which it rolls. The opening in Hope's shelter cannot be larger than approximately one-half of the surface area of the top of the shelter. While an opening of this size may be sufficient for some purposes, for the disabled or for very large persons, it may be difficult to enter a shelter with such a limited opening size. Further, those who are claustrophobic would find such a shelter even more constricting knowing that the opening through which they have to pass out of the shelter is so small. Also, to the extent objects are to be taken into or stored in the shelter, the smaller opening makes putting them in or taking them out more difficult.
Poole claims a similar device, but the description in Poole and the drawings are much more limited. The opening covers about half of the top of the shelter area or less. There is no description in Poole about how the lid, as shown open in FIG. 6, is prevented from tipping over as it is opened. The force of gravity would, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of Poole, force the leading edge of the lid to tip under its own weight. There is no structure shown or described in Poole which would prevent this from happening. Further, the Poole lid is well above ground level, which may prevent a vehicle from parking above the shelter if installed in a garage and which would also present a tripping hazard.
Applicant previously obtained, along with a prior co-inventor, U.S. Pat. No. 7,428,800 for an in-ground shelter. It claimed an improved shelter of the type having a front wall, a back wall, two opposing side walls, a bottom and a top defining a substantially rectangular box with an opening defined in the top, a flat lid adapted to cover the opening, a roller means for alternately rolling the lid to expose or close the open top, the improvement comprising: substantially, the entire top of the box defining an opening; the lid adapted to be substantially flush with the surrounding ground level in a closed position; and a roller means for allowing the lid to slide above the ground level, exposing more than half of the top when in an open position.
The teachings of the prior art disclosed along with this application are intended to be and are hereby incorporated by reference into this application.